Richard John Carwardine (born 12 January 1947) is a Welsh historian and academic. He specialises in

American politics In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic, federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches Separation of powers, share powers: United States Congress, C ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

in the era of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The professor is best known for his work on President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, from 2010 to 2016.

Early life

Born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of John Francis Carwardine and Beryl Jones, he attended Maesycwmmer Primary School and Monmouth School, before going up to

, as William Jones Exhibitioner, graduating BA in modern history 1968 ( MA 1972). He pursued further studies in history at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, receiving a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in 1975. Carwardine then went to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, as the Ochs-Oakes Senior Scholar in American History and Institutions. While a student at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, Carwardine played the role of Cornelius in the film '' Doctor Faustus'' (1967) with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. In a 2025 interview, he said, "I've continued to act and have just played

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' (), also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concer ...

in the play of that name with the company I helped found in the 1980s, the Abbey Shakespeare Players".

Academic career

Carwardine taught American history at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

(1971–2002), where he also served as dean of the

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

. He was a Rhodes Professor of American History & Institutions at Oxford University and a fellow of St Catherine's College from 2002 to 2009. Elected President of Corpus Christi College, he took office in January 2010, becoming a pro vice-chancellor of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Honours, fellowships and prizes

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

(1983) *

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(2006) *

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) (2019) *Carwardine was inducted into

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given b ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honour) by the

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

in 2009 as a Bicentennial Laureate.Prof Richard Carwardine on the Lincoln Academy site, 2009
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Bibliography

*Carwardine, Richard. ''Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America, 1790–1865''. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1978. *Carwardine, Richard. ''Evangelicals and Politics in Antebellum America''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. *Carwardine, Richard. ''Abraham Lincoln and the Fourth Estate: The White House and the Press During the American Civil War''. eading University of Reading, 2004. *Carwardine, Richard. ''Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. *Carwardine, Richard, and Jay Sexton. ''The Global Lincoln''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. *Carwardine, Richard. ''Lincoln's Sense of Humor''. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2017. *Carwardine, Richard. ''Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.

References

External links

Lecture
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...